With some birds the Mr (male) and Mrs (female) look the same – but one is smaller than the other. With blue tits, it is hard to tell the difference unless you hold a bird in your hands, like in this picture. Male and female birds have different lengths of wing feathers.

*(This picture was taken while I was with some people who were bird ringing…we all had a chance to hold a bird – more info below.)

Challenge – now you know what a blue tit looks like, have you seen others of a similar size that behave the same way, but have different colours? More info tomorrow!

2 Bird gear

If you look at birds, each have a different way of eating, perching and flying.

Check out the beak on the blue tit – it is thin and sharp, great for picking out wee flies and grubs from tree branches.

A blue tit’s claws can land on narrow surfaces like twigs and the edge of nestboxes. It is quite an acrobat and likes to hang upside down 🙂

A blue tit flies with very fast wing beats and can swerve and dive well – it has to look out for the ‘heavy mob’ – the birds that might like it for breakfast, like this sparrowhawk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra6I6svXQPg

3 Bird song

Birds sing for different reasons, but often it is to say, ‘Keep out!’ or “This is my girl! Back off!’ Every bird has a different song and most birds have calls as well – some are alarm calls.

Challenge – can you attract a bluetit towards you while playing this recording?

It would be great to see your drawings and hear your tales, you can add them to the Woodside or the Silverhaar facebook page.

See you tomorrow 🙂

* Bird ringing information

This is an amazing science which allows us to monitor bird movements across the world. This is important information as bird numbers and habits change if their habitat and food chain is disturbed – so the data gathered can help us understand more about the effects of climate change and other things.

Taking a robin out of the mist net

People put up mist nets to catch the birds. They are then weighed, measured and their sex noted.

This female blackbird is having a ring put on its leg. It does not hurt it.

A wee ring is placed on a leg. It has a number which when logged, will contain all the gathered information and is then available internationally, so that if that bird is caught again in a different area or country, the information from the ring can be read. This helps define a better picture of how birds move, especially during autumn or spring – which is known as migration. If this interest you, look at this link: https://grampianringing.blogspot.com/